U.S. prosecutors have seized about $84.2 million from bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets tied to Capstone Ltd., a Montana-registered payments company that processed transactions connected to Tether, according to a civil forfeiture case filed in California.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed the forfeiture complaint on July 15 in the Eastern District of California. Court records identify roughly $79.1 million in a Wells Fargo Securities account, $1.86 million at Wells Fargo Bank, $2.06 million at JPMorgan Chase and about 1.18 million USDT across two cryptocurrency wallets.
Prosecutors allege Capstone operated as an unlicensed money transmitter in multiple states while presenting itself to banks as an information-technology company. The company was registered in Montana, and prosecutors say it processed payments for two cryptocurrency firms through Dominica-based EQIBank. Reporting by Reuters and the Financial Times identified those firms as Tether and its affiliated exchange Bitfinex.
The case also involves allegations of fraud separate from the routine payment-processing activity. Prosecutors say Capstone was involved in a scheme in which fraudsters posed as FBI agents to obtain money from victims and then converted some proceeds into cryptocurrency. The Justice Department has not alleged wrongdoing by Tether, Bitfinex or the banks mentioned in the filings.
Tether confirmed that EQIBank was a banking customer relationship through which it processed wire transfers, but said it had no knowledge of the conduct alleged against Capstone. The stablecoin issuer also said its assets held at EQIBank represented less than 0.034% of the group’s total assets, limiting the disclosed financial exposure from the seizure.
Capstone’s owners, identified in reporting as Kotaro Shimogori and Mary Jeanne Thompson, have been linked to FBI searches in connection with the investigation. A lawyer for Capstone said the company denies wrongdoing and intends to challenge the government’s actions.
The seizure highlights the financial and compliance risks that can arise when stablecoin issuers rely on intermediary payment firms and offshore banking relationships to access traditional dollar-payment networks. The case remains a civil forfeiture proceeding, meaning the seizure itself is not a final judicial finding that Capstone or any other party committed the alleged misconduct. Payments Watch Source
The development also comes as regulators and financial institutions continue to scrutinize the infrastructure connecting cryptocurrency markets with the conventional banking system. For investors following broader cross-border financial risks, the changing role of alternative financial assets and reserves provides related context.
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